Solana, the Layer 1 blockchain competitor to Ethereum, took the market by storm in 2021 ending the year in the top 10 cryptos by market cap and leap-frogging some big names in the space such as Cardano, Polkadot and Polygon. Given its lightning-fast transaction speeds, low cost and rapidly expanding ecosystem, Solana is attracting considerable developer interest from the gaming sector which many claim is the crucial link between crypto and mainstream adoption. So, let’s take a look at the top Solana gaming coins.

Star Atlas (ATLAS)

Arguably the most hyped of the Solana gaming coins is Star Atlas. Launched in September, 2021 Star Atlas is a virtual gaming metaverse based in the year 2620.  Players are faction citizens that have the ability to influence intergalactic conflicts and receive rewards for their contributions. 

ATLAS is the native token for the ecosystem and players can buy and sell in-game NFT assets in the Galactic Marketplace. There’s also the POLIS governance token which provides for jurisdictional voting rights and wields political influence in the ecosystem.    

Star Atlas released an extremely cool trailer in October, 2021 featuring cinematic style graphics. However, achieving this visual standard for AAA game play will not be easy. This typically takes several years of development and costs millions of dollars to produce.  

The Star Atlas project is certainly ambitious but they have the potential to be an absolute beast in the space if they can execute their plans. They’ve recruited some amazing talent and have some big backers onboard such as Serum and Animoca Brands who recently committed to purchasing $3 million of Star Atlas NFT Spaceships. 

Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the Solana and Serum projects, and current CEO of the FTX exchange had this to say about the project prior to the token launch.

Aurory (AURY)

Aurory was launched in October, 2021 and aims to be one of the first AAA games on Solana, using similar play-to-earn style game mechanics that have made games like Axie Infinity enormously successful. 

Aurory is a fantasy action, play-to-earn Japanese style role playing game, set in two futuristic worlds called Antik and Cryptos. Users explore these environments and play-catch-earn, one could say like a next generation Pokémon game. Players can earn tokens ($AURY) and NFTs by playing the game, which can then be sold on exchanges or used to buy items in the marketplace and improve their chances of success. Check out the trailer that they released a few months ago here.

Aurory has assembled an incredible team of over 30 animators, artists and developers who have previous experience working with AAA teams such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft. They also have an impressive list of investors including Alameda Research and Animoca Brands.

Aside from the play-to-earn gaming crowd, Aurory also aims to attract DeFi enthusiasts by offering staking and NFT collateralisation services. Users can currently stake AURY tokens directly on their website and earn between 34% and 68% APR (varies due to locking period chosen).

CryoWar (CWAR)

Cryowar was launched in November, 2021 and has been several years in development. It is a real-time NFT, multiplayer PVP (Player versus Player) arena game developed using Unreal Engine. Players engage in fierce multi-realm battles in this expansive sci-fi medieval game. Cyrowar aims to become the first major competitive esports blockchain game. Check out their official trailer here. 

The CWAR token is the governance and utility token of the game and is the medium of exchange in the marketplace. It can also be staked to earn passive income. 

An interesting aspect of the game is that none of the assets in their in-game store give players a competitive advantage. Everyone fights on an even playing field and only skill can carry you up the ranks. Every player has the unique opportunity to protect their realm and earn rewards. Players will also have the option of risking some of their tokens to play against others. There are 3 different characters to choose from and at least 5 more will be rolled out in the future.

Cryowar can be summarised as an amalgam between a traditional gaming experience and the best practices of the blockchain world, DAO voting, NFTs, and Decentralized Finance (DeFi). It also intends to be multi-chain including integration with Polygon scheduled for 2022.

The project has assembled an impressive group of investors including Vendetta Capital, Kucoin Labs, Alameda Research and Animoca Brands.

SolChicks (CHICKS)

SolChicks was launched in December, 2021 and aims to be the leading play-to-earn game on Solana. The battle-style game is based around SolChicks who are a proud race of adorable battle chickens. 

There are multiple ways for players to participate with the gameplay largely revolving around Player versus Player (PvP) battles where users are matched against others of similar skills levels. By playing the game you can earn SOLCOINS (SLC) which is the in-game currency of SolChicks and can be used to purchase rare items in the marketplace. Users can also earn CHICKS which is the governance token of the ecosystem. SLC and CHICKS tokens are used to breed new SolChicks and sell them in the marketplace. Other in-game rewards include Shared of Love (SSLC), Tomes of Power (SPOWER) and Tomes of ReLearning (SLEARN) which can be earned through winning battles and later sold in the marketplace. 

The SolChicks launch was massively hyped with multiple launchpads participating in the public sale of the $CHICKS token. The project’s 1st and 2nd round NFT sales were a massive hit and sold out extremely quickly. The game is currently in development however a glimpse of what lies ahead can be experienced by checking out their game demo.

RaceFi (RACEFI) – One to Watch

RaceFi was launched in December, 2021 and is the first AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) car racing metaverse game built on Solana. You can check out their trailer here. 

RaceFi will be using a play-to-earn model and is scheduled to be released in Q1/2 this year. Players can earn by playing the game or by purchasing in-game NFT assets such as cars, land, racetrack sections, gas stations, garages and billboards. Owners of the RaceFi token will also have access to staking services to earn passive income. 

Blockchain gaming is just getting started and Solana is attracting plenty of developers to its ecosystem given its unmatched speed and low-cost transactions, essential elements that are required for new gaming projects to thrive. The market is shaping up to be extremely competitive as projects aggressively compete for user adoption and community support in an attempt to wrestle market share from traditional gaming counterparts. It’s very difficult at this nascent stage to predict with any confidence who the winners and losers will be, however one thing is for sure though, Solana gaming is here to stay.